More Than 50 Cats Rescued from Pasadena Home

By EDDIE RIVERA, Community Editor with DAVID CROSS, Newsdesk Editor

6:36 am | January 24, 2018

Almost a year to the date of a similar complaint at the same address, the Pasadena Humane Society & SPCA arrived at a home in the 1800 block of Corson Street Tuesday to find 54 cats in the house, living in “unsanitary conditions.” The cats were safely removed and transported to the Humane Society facility animal control officers for medical examination and further care.

“Animal control officers responded to an anonymous tip that there were many cats living in the home. We are currently in the process of removing the cats from the home and bringing them back to the shelter where they will undergo medical evaluations,” the Humane Society said in a statement

Pasadena Humane Society President/CEO Julie Banks said the Humane Society’s “goal is to get them a full medical exam, good food, whatever treatment that they need and hopefully and ultimately, find them new homes… A lot of of kitties there had been living in a pretty bad situation, and we are happy that we are able to get them out of there.”

The owner, who was not identified, surrendered the cats to the Pasadena Humane Society of her own volition, according to the statement.

“The owner of the cats was very cooperative and was concerned about the cats,” said Banks, “and is thankful for the help that we’re able to provide in getting this particular situation taken care of.”

Banks said she was unaware of what, if any penalties, the owner might face, saying, “There are a lot of factors that go into decisions on whether any kind of citations are given.”

Banks explained that the Humane Society is not a law enforcement agency.

“Our job is obviously welfare of the animals,” she said. “And we have to give full medical evaluations to determine whether there’s any kind of neglect or any kind of problems, and that’s all happening as we speak,” said Banks.

This is the second time in almost exactly one year in which a large number of cats was removed from the same residence, a city official said.

On or about Jan. 23, 2017, a removal of about 23 cats occurred at the same address with the same resident, the official said. Pasadena’s City’s Code Enforcement section had also received a complaint about the house, late last week and had been scheduled to investigate this week.

According to Banks, Pasadena residents are not allowed to have as many animals as were found at the home.

“There are food requirements for how many animals that you are allowed to have,” said Banks, “and the conditions and environment where the animals were living in, were the biggest concern for us at the Pasadena Humane Society. So they are now out of that environment and they are now at the shelter where we can kind of plan for their future.”

Asked about the possibility of adoption for the rescued cats, Banks said, “In this case, the pet owner did sign them over to us, which means they are now kind of officially our cats. So now we can do their medical exams. If they need treatment, they might be placed in foster care or treated on our property and then they will ultimately get picked up for adoption.

“Some might be right away,” she continued, “and some might be potentially a couple of months. It just kind of depends on their needs. The goal is as quickly as possible, but again, if they have any kind of medical conditions then that’s going to slow up that process.”

Banks also took to the opportunity to emphasize that neighbors can prevent a similar situation from occurring again.

“The first thing,” said Banks, “ is that if you see something weird in the community, absolutely report it because you never know what’s going on in the situation to know what can be done to assist both the people and the animals. So don’t ever hesitate to report it to the appropriate agency.”

Banks also noted that there are a number of services available at the Pasadena Humane Society to help pet owners to avoid critically overcrowded situations, including “Helping Paws” which Banks described as “all about helping people in crisis.”

“So,” Banks offered, “if you’re kind of finding yourself spiraling out of control,” or finding yourself needing pet food or anything else that can help you in being a responsible pet owner, we can help you with most of it.”

The Pasadena Humane Society is under contract with the City to provide animal control services in Pasadena.